Poor people are assumed to be lazy and no good
By sjvenden27
@sjvenden27 (1840)
United States
May 28, 2009 1:27am CST
Why is it that people look so down on others that do not have a lot of money, and think that they are just lazy and that is why they are in their current situation? Yesterday, I had to go to welfare to take care of some business for my son... I am a single mother, and I can not work!! I have a major back problem that prevents me from doing a lot of activity without pain.. I am not talking about a little ouch... something that even pain pills can always take away... Anyways, I had to sit there and wait for an hour just to talk to someone, this was the second time that I was in their to take care of this problem... The first time I was there for almost three hours, just sitting.. Sitting in a chair for a long period of time sends shooting pain going up and down throughout my whole body.. But I didnt complain, I waited patiencely, after an hour I asked about getting my appointment time.. the lady snaped at me.. which caught me off guard considering I was not saying anything rude, or complaining.. she told me well you are still here?? they will send you an appointment time in the mail... I waited and waited... two weeks when by, no appointment time... so yesterday I walked down there just to sit again... This time my body was like cant do this again, after a half an hour my legs were going numb.. so I went up again to see if they had my appointment time, still being respectful, there was a form that I filled out a short time ago... apparently they lost it... I said What do I have to fill that form out AGAIN, I just did that an half an hour ago!! (ready to snap) the other lady went over and helped her find it... I told them I have to see my case work right now!!! Someone, I need help... I was a little more edgey by this point... was told yet again to sit... this time I wasnt quiet.. I started talking to this other lady... and saying loud enough for everyone in the room to hear me but not screaming, They must think that we have ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD TO SIT HERE BECAUSE WE ARE POOR... made some other remarks like that... and finally my case worker got downstairs, after I was siting there for over an hour... then he was still busy with another client... Which he told me to wait... so i waited yet another 10 mintues... well at this point I am ready to blow a gasket.. so i went outside to make a phone call... I was just about to hit talk, when my caseworker followed me outside... I explained to him how frustrated I was, and that I needed help for my son... FINIALLY he helped me... at least thats what I thought... went up to his office... he was looking for my case file... (he lost it once before) I just started shaking my headed.. The idiot lost my FILE YET AGAIN!!! Took a bit to file out the DARN paperwork AGAIN!!! But I did leave with what I needed to take care of.. I DO NOT THINK THIS IS RIGHT!! POOR PEOPLE ARE HUMANS TOO NOT JUST A HERD OF COWS THAT YOU CAN SHOVE TO THE SIDE! What do you think about this?
3 people like this
13 responses
@cbhomework (545)
• Malta
28 May 09
Lazy people are lazy people whether they are rich or poor. There are poor people who are willing to do things and there are rich people who are incredibly lazy.
What you have met with is an unprofessional person and not a person who distinguishes between poor or rich. This person is not organized at all, if he lost your file again and again and he is the one who deserves to be looked down upon. Losing a file can happen. Once. If it happens again, there is something wrong with the system or with the person.
2 people like this
@mariposaman (2959)
• Canada
6 Jun 09
I think people do not complain because of fear. They know that the pittance they get from welfare is all that is keeping them alive and off the street. The workers know they have all the power because at the stroke of a pen they can cut you off forever. If there was political will to change the system, it would have changed a long time ago.
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
If my file does get lost again.. I will be going straight to his supervisior, if they are not willing to listen.. Then I will keep going up the ladder until someone does... Even if I have to start writing letters to the state governor I will do that.. Granted on their side, a case worker that loses a file is doing the state a favor because that is less money that they have to hand out... but as a single mother, I can not afford a pay cut just because someone can not keep their files straight!! People like me should complain, but in the legal cent.. Yelling and screaming does not solve anything.. In the end you are the one that looks like a fool, and nothing gets resolved... We need to stand up and say; WE ARE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND WE DESERVE TO BE HEARD!!
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
Yes it can be scary to complain, having the chance of losing what benefits I do recieve... But at the same time, why can I use my voice and speak out? As long as I do it legally, and not phase my statements inapporatiely... I am not trying to attack the government, or its polics.. Just wish that there was an understanding that we are all human beings that are trying to surivive..
@mariposaman (2959)
• Canada
28 May 09
Most people do not realize that they are just a slip and fall on an icy step away from being there themselves. If they get cancer or hit by a car and cannot work they quickly lose their job because they cannot work and become a second class citizen in their own country, becoming one of "them" the lazy buggers. Many people are finally realizing they are not that far away from becoming one of "them" as they find their businesses close and they are laid off.
I find the general public has a disdain for the poor and homeless. I think they would prefer them all herded to gas chambers and eliminate the problem of having to deal with them.
Obviously they feel this way or you would not have been treated so shabbily. This not only happens in US but in Canada too. I applied once for welfare and they treated me really shabbily.
2 people like this
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
I am commenting on, "I think they would prefer them all herded to gas chambers and eliminate the problem of to deal with them." Yes that may solve the problem of poverty for the moment, but if that happened.. it would just take away more freedoms from this country.. How would they (the goverment) determine who is poor and who is rich? From that, once that group "X" was gone... who doesnt say that they may go after "Y" next? There is always going to be someone that has less money then others, thats just a fact of life. Someone is always chasing that rainbow, while others are at the end of the rainbow...
@mariposaman (2959)
• Canada
6 Jun 09
As you say "poor people are not just a herd of cows, we are human too". Thus it seems people know who the "poor" and "lazy" are. When one seeks to eliminate portions of a society, they are first dehumanized. Hitler did this quite efficiently first with the disabled and infirm. Evidence is he made propaganda films just for this effect. Once a segment is "a herd of cows" it is in the best interest of society to remove the blight. What you and I are experiencing is just that treatment, only the follow through has not happened. How did Hitler determine who was mentally infirm? I guess there is an arbitrary guidline, just as qualifications for food stamps is arbitrary, a dollar less you qualify and a dollar more you do not. I hate using Hitler in any argument, but the same thing happened in Rwanda, when the Hutus massacred the Tutsis, they seemed to know who was who, while to westerners the all looked the same. This massacre followed decades of dehumanization of the Tutsis by the Hutus. Westerners frequently do this to native populations in countries the seek to populate, including the ethnic cleansing of North America, by painting the natives as inferior, so the precedence is not unheard of.
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
Very well thought out, yes I would have to agree... I just wish if we could all band together as a group that we could change the way the system treats us. I know that there is a great number of us out there... and many would agree that the treatment is not fair!! The only way true CHANGE is going to happen is if the people of American CHANGE their attitudes on certain issues.. No Citizen of this country should go without the basic neccesities... regardless if they are 1 or 101, man or woman, pink or purple... it doesnt matter... we all are apart of this country and we should go back to some of the beliefs that we had 100 years ago... Instead we are becoming another "ENGLAND", just modernized. And the freedoms that they were fighting for back then versus now are more complex.
@cherry1102ph (105)
• Philippines
29 May 09
I don't think that poor people are lazy and no good. It's just because they haven't got the opportunity to have a better life. And they didn't use their resources wisely.
The government should find a way to help the poor. For example, giving them education to get better jobs.
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
Education is a good point! If someone could learn a new skill that always betters their chances at getting a good job, in most cases. It depends on a persons' age and experince too. Along with the person's willingness to learn a new skill. Its like with everything; some people take things for granted when it is given to them verses having to earn it with their own sweat.. I know a person that has gotten degree upon degree, and that person has not yet had a job.. And has not tried.. not because she is poor, not because she doesnt have money, but because she doesnt want to get off the system.. Some people spend their whole live one the system and are so use to just getting everything.. That if they would have to earn their way, they go crazy.. I understand both sides of this discussion.
@kelpie (190)
• United States
28 May 09
I'm a people kind of person, I can understand anyone's situation, but I do know how you feel. I broke my foot last year and it has been giving me serious problems. Not only that, but I have a serious anxiety issue that really makes it hard for me to do things. Calling someone I don't know, such as the doctor's office, can be difficult for me. The bad thing is, is that I am so young that the best "treatment" I get is being called a hypochondriac.
2 people like this
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
I can understand what you mean by someone not listening to you because of your age.. It can be difficult, people assume that you are young yet and that you have not had enough life experince to really understand anything.. Which is the wrong kind of attitude.. I wish you well, and I hope you can find a doctor that is willing to listen to you. Just keep trying to explain what is going on with you, and if someone that is not willing to listen then go to someone else.. (If that is possible, not sure of what kind of medical insurance you have) With the medical condition that I have, I didnt really find anything out about it until I was 24, now I am 27 and I still do not know what all is going on with my body... In the end you will find out how to over come this, it just a matter of strong will.. You can do it!! :-)
@kelpie (190)
• United States
28 May 09
I must also add: id like to have my own business or do something for others while making some profit, but I can never seem to last at a job long enough to make enough money to get my own business.
The three issues that cause me to have issues with working long periods of time is:
1. I have flat feet, and the addition of my "healed" broken foot from last year makes me get in so much pain. I haven't had actual pain killers, but something like advil, excedrin, ibuprophen, aspercreme, you name it, I've tried it. The pain goes all the way up to my neck, back, hips, and legs. By the end of any shift, I walk like I'm 80 years old.
2. My hypoglycemia. I can eat as healthy as I possibly can afford, but it still acts up, ESPECIALLY when I'm physically in pain. I basically end up turning into a mindless person who is in so much pain, but so weak, I can't scream.
3. My anxiety, as I said. I'm constantly anxious about anything. Stressful situations are the worse for me, such as driving in traffic, big or small.
But alas, I'm 19 almost 20. No doctor I've spoken to believes this is any real issue and thinks all of it is psychological.
2 people like this
@xoxcharityxox (567)
• United States
29 May 09
I completely agree with you. We went through a similar sitation when my husband lost his job. I personally think every human being has the right to have medical insurance and food to eat. It is ridiculous that people assume that everybody is basically trash because they're going through a rough time. I'm sorry for those who may disagree, but it is a horribly ugly thing to judge somebody by the amount of money they have. Not everybody is on welfare because they don't want to work. Some people may cheat the system, but is it really so bad to get help for your children or yourself when for whatever reason you can't do it yourself. It is absolutely ridiculous the way people think they can treat other human beings. No one is any better then anyone else and we'd be a much happier society if we'd pull our heads out of our A**ES and respect and help eachother as a society...
2 people like this
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
I love the last statement that you made!! It would be a better society, and I believe there would be less problems. At least in this major area of our government. Granted their is not any perfect government, there is always something that is not exactly what we believe to be right... But it would help many people in the long run..
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
That was really funny how you put it.. Hey you may not be money rich, but by the sound of it you do have a great sense of humor!! Some only dream of that :-)
@LouieWpHs04 (4555)
• United States
28 May 09
Actually, it's quite the opposite in my mind. My thoughts are the less money you have the more you have to work it seems. The high-up people obviously work way less then people below them and those below them but that's just how our economy and corporate structure was built. Thus, that's probably way poor people are "assumed to be lazy and no good".
2 people like this
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
28 May 09
I wonder how these CEOs and other upper executives would handle just one day at the bottom of the ladder.. I can just about guarantee they would quit, just after an hour... Its not just the lower people getting less money and having to work harder... They also have the jobs that most CEOs would be their worst nightmares!!
2 people like this
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
You do make a good point.. Granted all walks of life have their problems.. But looking at it the major thing that separates the poor and rich is money. Yes I know people from upper middle class, to people that do not have a "pot to piss in".. Money is the only thing thats different.. There are some people that put their family time before work, both classes.. There are some people that can not enjoy their families because of the lack of time, and demanding work scheucles.. These two classes just have different life styles, the better or worse home, car, etc.. That doesnt change the fact that in the end, we are all people that bleed the same color.
@Chispa514 (871)
• Montreal, Quebec
28 May 09
I very much agree with you on that ! That happens to me alot as well whenever I go to welfare. It annoys me because I cannot just sit and waste my time in a hard chair getting pains in my back (i have a bad back as well) only to be toldto sit and wait, one time I was even told "you don't work ,so what difference does it make if you sitand wait 10 mins or an hour ?" that hurt me alot.
I hate that people assume the worst about poor people. Just becaue they have good jobs, doesn't mean we all can.
2 people like this
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
28 May 09
Poor people just have bad luck, and/or are not born with the "silver spoon" in their mouths... Granted there are some people that are on welfare that sit around and do nothing... Those people should just be shot!!! That makes the rest of us that really want to do better for our families but for one reason or another can't.. Just wish people would look at the person from the inside out, and not the outside in.. The world would be a much better place for everyone.
1 person likes this
@jessi0887 (2788)
• United States
28 May 09
I know how you feel. I went to apply for food stamps once. First time appointment. I waited four hours just because the people who got there before me didn't have all their paperwork filled out and the lady explained that to me. I was mad. Second time I went wasn't so bad about two hours. I still didn't get food stamps. First time because they wanted all this unnecessary paper work. Second time because I was under a certain age I had to use another income and I didn't have that kind of proof. So now I still dont have food stamps and rather dont care for it right now.
2 people like this
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
Well I am glad that you are able to make it without food stamps. But if you do need them, it is all worth it in the end... Yes you end up giving up a lot of time and energy to get them. But at the same time your stomach is not empty.. I just wish people would be a little more concerned about the indivdual and less about the amount of people that need this help..
@Youreyes4Today (2356)
• United States
6 Jun 09
There are Lazy people and then there are LAZY people, like your worker, who doesn't take the time to keep his files organized so he doesn't loose paperwork. Now to me that is being lazy. Doesn't matter if your Poor or Rich or in between. You have lazyness in all catagories. It is just that the poor take the flack for it. Always!!! Sad because many of those poor people are working just not making enough to make ends meet. I don't mean taking the income and spending it on stupid stuff either, paying bills and getting food. The do what they can and hope for the rest. I know how this works. I do not qualify for assitance, I do not qualify for social security. Yet, I am little by little getting by. Doing things here, doing other things for others. Its all I can do for now. The job market as it is, is bad, now add carpal tunnel, degenerated back disease, and 53 years old.
I am not lazy, I know many others that are not lazy, yet because we don't have new cars a fancy home, new clothes to strut around in, were lazy.. shakes head.
What is the meaning of life, MONEY or the people you share your life with, what you can give, what steps you have taken in life to be who you are today.
1 person likes this
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
Yes and I pray that one day, you will be able to find a job, or start your own business, and be successful! Its about time something good happens for you, for a change!!
I would say that the meaning of life is (like you said) the people you spend it with, and not the amount of money that is in your back pocket.. Or the extras in life that a lot of people think that it creates status.. I think that what is the most imporant part about a person is what is coming out from the inside... and not the other way around.
1 person likes this
@dianmelydia (2269)
• Indonesia
28 May 09
Absolutely it's right. Poor people is lazy and that's why they are poor. There's no one rich man in this world is lazy. If those poor people wanna be more diligent, they can earn more money. Poor people in this laziness statement is not regarding with those unhaving. But it strongly refers to people who don't want to working but want to have good things. They are only dreamers. I strongly believe that people who want to working, no matter they are rich or poor, are much better than people who lazy to work. Have a nice day and happy mylotting.
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
6 Jun 09
I can see your point, there are many people that are poor because of the fact that they do not want to work, and all work regardless of the field can be hard work..
Just remember there are some people that are poor that can not fix their situation!! They are stuck, and no matter how much they do, how many hours they pour their sweat, and blood into their work, their means are not supported.. Even if they are being thrifty...I know someone that is like that, and no matter what she does, it seems there is always obstabcles in the way of her dreams of success.. Believe me this woman works her butt off!! Being poor is not always a choice!!
@drsenergy (159)
• United States
28 May 09
This is a very materialistic society and people tend to give value and preferred treatment to those with more stuff. Should it be this way, ofcourse not, but that's how it is. And most generally believe that with hard work you can achieve success, and if someone is unsuccessful or poor then that must mean that they are not a hard worker. They must be lazy, which is not always the case.
2 people like this
@sjvenden27 (1840)
• United States
28 May 09
Yes that is true.. but there are some people that are rich and didnt have to work to get to the green backs... Defining a hard worker is someone that puts their all into whatever they are doing at the moment... Hard workers should not be determined by the bank roll they have..
1 person likes this
